Carpenters for Christ return North Greenville’s hospitality

“Go ye into all the world” is the mission of Carpenters for Christ. The volunteer members of this national mission organization take that biblical principle seriously and literally.

Carpenters for Christ donate their knowledge of construction to help out local communities across the nation. In June, groups from Prattville and Montgomery, Ala., were at North Greenville University helping build two 72-bed residence halls.

NGU has experienced major growth in student population over the past 19 years.  Campus housing was near capacity this past school year with 1,515 residential students.

Membership in the two mission groups is approximately 150. Their main goal for the week was to complete the framing and roofing of both residence halls before they left the campus on June 15.

The Carpenters for Christ website says, “We feel that you are either a missionary or in need of one. Each of us is a missionary wherever we are. Our Lord has sent us in answer to someone’s prayers. We want to be the common ordinary laborers that work in His field.”

The men sacrificing part of their summer to labor in Tigerville are not all laymen — some are full-time construction workers. They are not strangers to North Greenville, either. The Carpenters assisted Bible Baptist Church (just down Highway 253 from the NGU campus) in the construction of its new church building. When the group worked on that project, NGU provided them with sleeping accommodations on campus.

“They were appreciative of us offering them a place to stay during that time and wanted to return the favor by helping us,” said Joe F. Hayes, NGU director for development.

Raymond Mathis, who is head of the Prattville group, said the North Greenville project was one of the largest it has tackled.